Blog

Be Wary of the Echo Chamber

February 24, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Tim Austin, PE

A few years ago, I attended a conference sponsored by the Florida Engineering Society. The keynote speaker was retired astronaut Story Musgrave. Story is a powerful speaker, and I tremendously enjoyed the many tales of his unparalleled career. One particular story that he shared struck a chord.

Story was the astronaut who worked on the Hubble Telescope during Servicing Mission 1 to fit the corrective lens. He shared that, in his preparations, he consulted with the world-renowned figure skater, Dorothy Hamill. Many wondered why an astronaut would consult with a figure skater regarding the repairs to the telescope.

Building Confidence: Empathetic Stakeholder Engagement

February 17, 2020 By EMI

Empathetic Stakeholder Engagement is a guest blog by Michael Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

Previously, I encouraged you to broadly engage your network as you explore your professional intentions, creating balance, reducing stress, and inspiring learning objectives. A positive step in a naturally closed system, relying on trusted peers. Yet, as professionals in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry, we learn early on in our careers that a wide variety of dynamic voices, which we refer to as stakeholders influence our work and the infrastructure assets we deliver. For sustained success, we must consider the voices who inform and are informed by our work.

So how do we build confidence as we face challenges, working with these dynamic stakeholder groups? The Project Management Institute (PMI) is one of many good resources to learn the science associated with stakeholder management. Let’s focus on the art of engaging diverse voices for our collective success — personally, professionally, and across the project delivery lifecycle.

Meet Mathew Picardal, P.E. – An Engineer Focused on Inspiring the Next Generation of Structural Engineers

February 14, 2020 By EMI

The Engineering Management Institute is thrilled to have Mathew Picardal, P.E. as host of the Structural Engineering Channel Podcast. Mathew is a licensed engineer practicing structural engineering in California. He recently started a YouTube channel called Mat Picardal Structural Engineering Life to inspire the next generation of structural engineers. In Mathew’s own words he started the YouTube channel because,

“When I was a student, I would google things on the internet to find out what the structural engineering field was like, but there wasn’t a lot of good positive content out there that was really useful.”

Mathew’s role as host of EMI’s podcast, The Structural Engineering Channel, is yet another way for him to give back to the structural engineering community. He currently hosts The Structural Engineering Channel alongside Alexis A. Clark, P.E., Structural Engineering Trade Manager at HILTI North America. The show serves to bring important industry information, including technical and non-technical news, to practicing structural engineers worldwide.

The show has already covered topics including BIM and Collaboration Between Structural Engineers and Drafters, Sustainability and Resilience in Structural Engineering, The Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity (SE3) Project, and CROSS (Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety) Is Now Here in the United States.

The Structural Engineering Channel podcast is published bi-monthly on Thursday mornings and is available on Apple Podcasts and other popular podcast outlets.

“My goal is to inspire the youth to become more involved in the structural engineering profession, whether it is getting involved in your professional societies or just help mentor the next generation of structural engineers.” – Mathew Picardal, PE, Structural Project Manager at DCI Engineers

Take Action Despite Uncertainty

February 10, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry

“Treat mistakes as learning, not failure” ~ Dan Sullivan

“Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast” ~ Tom Peters

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~ Thomas Edison

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ~ Winston Churchill

These quotes, and others like them, seem to be preached more and more, all of the time. Viewing failure in this way is actually quite important; it allows us to move through uncertainty, even though that uncertainty can be a source of great fear. But believing in the principle doesn’t mean it’s automatically easy to actually do it. So how do we deal with fear, move through uncertainty, and take action anyway? Here are four ideas:

How to Seek out Mentorship in Construction and Engineering

February 3, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Holly Welles

In many professions, it’s easy to find a mentor, primarily when you work with those who have years of experience. Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case for construction workers and engineers, as more and more young people enter the field every year. Mentors are a valuable resource for many as they provide insight, guidance, and career opportunities. Here are a few ways you can seek out mentorship in construction and engineering.

Designing Your Engineering “To Be” List

January 27, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Peter C. Atherton, P.E.

Imagine being your best self.

Imagine how much more content and less stressful life would be if you could “do you” really well and effectively—and do so all the time?

The First Step Is to Imagine It

For most, being our best self includes:

Doing excellent work,
Doing what we do best every day,
Growing and advancing, and
Having a life and impact beyond our career alone.

The good news is that these are all possible and all in our control. Once we imagine them, we can begin to take other steps to realize them.

The Next Steps:

Engineering Management Institute Welcomes Alexis Clark, P.E. as New Host of the Structural Engineering Channel Podcast

January 22, 2020 By EMI

Ridgewood, NJ – Alexis A. Clark, P.E., Structural Engineering Trade Manager at HILTI North America, has contributed to the industry she loves, structural engineering, in many ways over the course of her career. Her involvement in industry goes beyond technical contribution by serving at the local, state and national levels of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and empowering the next generation to pursue and succeed in STEM fields through her work as a Concrete Canoe judge, a tenured mentor for the ACE Mentor Program, and as President of the Board of Directors for The Girls interested in Engineering Math and Science (or GEMS) Camp in Texas.

The Engineering Management Institute recently invited Alexis to become one of the co-hosts of their latest podcast, The Structural Engineering Channel. Alexis jumped at the opportunity.

“My number one goal with being the host of the structural engineering podcast is to be that filter to distill relevant, interesting, inspiring information that you would want to know as a structural engineer and deliver it to you in a way that is fun and convenient to access.” – Alexis A. Clark, P.E., Structural Engineering Trade Manager, HILTI North America

Alexis will host The Structural Engineering Channel alongside Mathew Picardal, P.E., also a licensed engineer, practicing on structural projects in California. The show will serve to bring important industry information, including technical and non-technical news, to practicing structural engineers worldwide. [Read more…] about Engineering Management Institute Welcomes Alexis Clark, P.E. as New Host of the Structural Engineering Channel Podcast

Goal Setting: Think Big, Be Mindful

January 20, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Michael Burns, PE, PgMP, DBIA

What a cool topic for my first EMI Blog—Goal Setting—as publishing and mentoring have been on my list of career objectives for many years. Writing my first draft, I realized it was January 4th, my father’s birthday and the time of year where resolutions and goal setting run rampant. My parents, school teachers who raised me in Boulder, Colorado, often limited their advice to philosophical statements like, “We are who we are becoming.” As a kid, this lack of concrete guidance frustrated me, as I sought clear direction for a successful life. Thirty years into my civil engineering career, as a parent, mentor, mentee and friend, I hold dearly to my parents’ guidance, accepting that we are who we are becoming is step one in balancing our desires against life’s events.

Do You Have the Resourcefulness to Earn a 30% Pay Raise This Year?

January 13, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jen Bunk, Ph.D.

Happy New Year! It’s goal-setting season. How much value do you want to add at work this year? Do you know the EXACT percentage raise you want to earn? And do you know how to earn it? For many of our clients, earning a 30% pay raise is a stretch goal they aspire to achieve.

But the question is, how do you get there?

Scientific Laws of Leadership

January 9, 2020 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Jeff Perry

As engineers, we learn massive amounts of equations, corollaries, theorems, and laws. These typically apply to mathematics or scientific laws that must be understood in order to make appropriate engineering designs and calculations. However, have you ever wondered if these scientific laws that the natural world follows have applications to our personal growth, development, and leadership? In my opinion, the answer is a clear “Yes!”

In this post, I’ll take examples from some of the most commonly known scientific laws of physics — Newton’s Laws of Motion. I’ll show you how these fundamental laws apply to the movement and progress of people and teams, not just physical objects. Then, I’ll provide suggestions actions, or “motions,” you can take in your own leadership.

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